Origins: How heart disease and a refusal to ski created Boa Closure Systems

by James Huang

August 29, 2016

Photography by James Huang

Boa shoe closures were little more than curious oddities when they first found their way on to cycling footwear in 2003. More than a decade later, they’re arguably the system to have for high-end footwear – such as Giro’s new Factor Techlace – and the reel-and-cable device is also branching out beyond shoes, like in Silca’s clever new tool roll.

Boa may practically be a household name today (provided your house is filled with cyclists), but as is so often the case, it hardly started out that way.

Annoyance is the mother of invention

Boa was the brainchild of Gary Hammerslag, who together with his father, developed a coronary guide wire system for angioplasty balloon catheters. After eventually selling that company, Hammerslag relocated with his family from southern California to more picturesque Steamboat Springs, Colorado, tending to his younger kids and looking for his next big idea – and frustrated at the primitive lacing systems used on their hockey skates and snowboard boots.

Surely, he thought, there was a better way.

“I was actively looking for a new business, and it was too late to get a job!” he told CyclingTips. “I was a skier, but my kids were 8 and 10, and they didn’t want to learn to ski. But snowboarding was still kind of new, and they said they wanted to snowboard. So I said, ‘Well shit, let’s do it — and I’ll learn with you!’ So I went out and bought three snowboards and three sets of boots. They also started playing ice hockey at that time.

“I was surrounded by these heavy sport boots and realizing that shoelace closures didn’t work well for a variety of reasons,” he continued. “Just out of interest, I analyzed shoelaces and why they were used, why they don’t put buckles on snowboard boots and hockey skates. The basic idea came to me fairly quickly of using shoelaces that don’t rely on friction at the eyelets.

“I already knew how strong and flexible you could get thin wires, and how you could use low friction to tighten the whole boot, all at once. The reel came after that, because when you pull wires, you can’t tie them in a knot — you need a mechanism to pull the low-friction system tight. I was already working on another coronary catheter, and some of those principles were similar to what I was doing with coronary guide wires.”

As a career inventor, Hammerslag already knew a number of machinists and designers that could assist him with the development work. He had prototypes of his reel-and-cable device made in 1997, and then put them on his own snowboard boots just to prove the concept.

“I kept refining it, and reached a point in 1998. I had to choose which product to continue with: the coronary catheter, or what became the Boa system.”

Boa is well known in cycling circles but the company got its start in snowboarding.

The first prototypes were understandably crude, but they proved that the concept worked as intended.

One key requirement for the Boa concept was that it had to be easy to use – and in this case, with gloved hands.

Modern Boa dials are obviously much more compact than this.

Company founder Gary Hammerslag retrofitted a pair of K2 Clicker boots to test his then-prototype Boa cable system. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.

Boa gains a foothold

We all already know now which direction Hammerslag chose, and it also didn’t take long for him to envision the system’s potential.

“A lot of other footwear has inadequate closure,” he said. “The disadvantages of shoelaces extends into other types of footwear. I was also a recreational cyclist — just casual rides, not on a competitive level — and I could see bike shoes also needing good closure. I thought our system would be better there, too.”

Interestingly, Hammerslag’s original business idea was to start a complete shoe company centered around the Boa system. However, he realized early on that building a Boa-equipped shoe company from the ground up would be a monumentally challenging undertaking. After all, he’d be competing against brands that had been in the game for decades, along with all the technical, manufacturing, and logistical advantages such a head start provides.

So later that year, Hammerslag made the fateful decision to shift gears, positioning Boa not as a complete shoe company but as more of an OEM supplier.

“Originally my idea was to start a business making snowboard boots to start, and then go into other areas of footwear. But I had a hard time making the numbers work, and began to appreciate how difficult those businesses are. So the business model concept that I eventually ended up with is more similar to SRAM and Shimano, and before that, Campagnolo, and that was selling components: to sell just the reels, on an OEM basis, and become an expert just in closure, with the dials, and the laces, and the lace guides. That was a pivotal decision.”

And a smart one, as history would soon prove.

Snowboard brands K2 and Vans were the first snowboard boot brands to partner with Boa in 2001. DC — along with a number of other big brands, such as Burton — followed soon after. A partnership with Pearl Izumi launched Boa into the cycling world with the Viper Boa shoes in 2003.

Boa is playing with custom printing dials. Shown here are various nationalities but just about anything is possible.

These Specialized S-Works shoes were made for none other than current world champion Peter Sagan.

Specialized was just getting started with Boa-equipped shoes when these prototypes were made.

Boa has seemingly found its way into nearly every type of shoe.

Boa has recently started delving into the world of medical devices, too.

A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, and Boa on every shoe

Boa certainly has no issues with name recognition these days, what with an estimated 16 million reels currently populating the globe since the company first began production, over 250 brand partners, and more than 200 employees spread across six offices worldwide. In fact, it’s more common for cycling shoe brands to offer Boa-equipped models than not, and many companies equip their flagship models with Boa exclusively.

Boa has also expanded well beyond snowsports and cycling, with a prominent position in golf, a wide range of shoe and non-shoe applications in the outdoor industry, and even products in the medical and construction/utility industries.

“Once consumers got a hold of them, the response has almost always been really good,” Hammerslag said. “That’s what has kept us in business, as well as fueled our growth. Once consumers like it, then it becomes easy, because retailers see it selling out the door, the sales are seen by the brands, and it continues to grow.

“Over the last four or five years, we’ve had a lot of growth in cycling as more and more people have used [Boa], and as it’s been embraced more and more by pro cyclists.”

Boa today occupies an entire building in Denver, Colorado – and seeing as the company is bursting at the seams, it’s already scouting a new location with more space. Among the many on-site capabilities is a full prototype shop.

Boa can injection mold plastics at will to test different designs.

A band saw and drill press are often put into use as well.

This decades-old machine is purpose-built for making small gears.

These prototype pieces are barely the size of a pencil eraser.

A fun piece of promotional material for the workshop floor. Sadly, the top doesn’t click when you spin it.

An on-site environmental chamber allows testing at different temperatures and humidities.

Boa tests its components under a variety of different conditions.

Here, a new cable material is repeatedly run through a container of sand.

So how well does Boa stand up to mud? Here, its engineers can find out.

Different cable materials are always being tested.

A bank of Instron tensile testers reside in yet another lab.

Boa recently purchased an industrial robot, which is used to simulate shoe wear. Test boxes can be filled with different media such as sand, dirt, and concrete.

Boa doesn’t just design and manufacture cable closure systems. The company also provides development support for brands interested in incorporating Boa, and can build complete prototypes right on site.

Having on-site shoe production means fast turnaround for prototypes.

Everything needed to produce a prototype shoe upper is right at the designer’s fingertips.

A wide range of lasts are kept on hand for prototype development.

A huge collection of different upper fabrics and materials are kept on hand as well.

Sewing machines like are commonly found inside the Boa facility. The design allows easy retrofitting of Boa components on to shoes that are already built.

Boa donates components that are visually blemished, but otherwise still functional, to an organization that builds prosthetic hands.

Yep, Boa is definitely dog-friendly.

Adding Boa to a product that doesn’t currently use it requires a fair bit of thought and a pair of steady hands.

Giro and Silca join the Boa family

Boa’s list of cycling brand partners has now grown by two, with the recent addition of both Giro and Silca.

Giro will feature Boa on two new road shoes — the Factor Techlace and Sentrie Techlace (along with the Factress Techlace and Raes Techlace women’s analogues). According to Giro, the aim of all of the new Techlace models was to replicate the fit and feel of the company’s ultra-popular Empire lace-up models — a category the company pioneered in 2013 — but with easier on-the-fly adjustability, and much faster ingress and egress.

All use a similar layout, with Boa dials serving as the main closure around the front of the ankle for a firm hold, micro-adjustability (just 1mm of cable length change per click of the dial), and a single-motion release function.

Giro’s new Factor Techlace blends Boa, hook-and-loop, and lace closures in one road shoe. The single Boa IP1 cable reel is used as the primary closure to really lock your foot in place, and Giro will offer the dials in four different colors for customization.

Giro’s decision to incorporate Boa into its shoes for the first time stemmed from its experience with helmet retention systems. Whereas earlier retention systems required users to push the two halves together to tighten the helmet on to their heads (and then push two buttons to loosen), more recent models switched to a dial layout that was much easier to use.

Meanwhile, the mid- and forefoot areas of Giro’s new shoes are secured with a novel strap/lace hybrid design called Techlace. Here, laces are fed through multiple eyelets just like on the Empire, but the lace segments are shorter — and instead of tying the ends together, the laces are anchored into short straps that are then secured with hook-and-loop patches to the upper.

Giro says the Techlace design offers the comfort and suppleness of laces but with the quicker adjustability of hook-and-loop straps. They’re also replaceable, and Giro will offer 12 different lace lengths (and six colors) so that users will also always end up with perfectly situated straps.

In concept, Techlace bears some similarities to Mavic’s ErgoStrap design, but while the latter is essentially a more flexible interpretation of conventional hook-and-loop straps, the former more closely mimics traditional laces in how it secures around the foot.

Giro’s new Techlace concept may come across a bit hokey at first — and to be honest, that was my first thought as well before actually trying it — but two test rides during Giro’s launch event in the Swiss Alps (comprising 177km and roughly 3,000m of climbing in total) provided plenty of support for Giro’s claims.

Overall fit and feel were indeed very similar to the Empire SLX, but with none of the hassles of a traditional lace-up upper — in other words, essentially a quick-release Empire with just a bit more weight (420g vs. 350g per pair, claimed, size 42.5), far more convenience, and arguably even more tunability since the three zones are now truly independently adjustable.

Initial impressions are very good, but stay tuned for a more in-depth review to come. Worldwide availability is slated for October.

The overall feel of the new Giro Factor Techlace shoes is very similar to the company’s lace-up Empire model but with the convenience of mechanical closures.

Giro has done an excellent job of visually concealing the two straps. It’s a very good-looking shoe.

Giro uses the same last for the Factor Techlace as on its other road shoes, which means a medium volume and width throughout, a medium-volume toe box, and a refreshingly modest taper up front. The heel cup is narrow enough for a good hold, but without feeling overly constrictive.

Getting the Giro Factor Techlace shoes on or off takes but a couple of seconds – far faster than standard lace-up shoes.

The lightly padded heel cup fits well and is quite comfortable.

Generous perforations in the upper keep your feet quite comfortable, even in extreme heat and humidity. The inner side of the heel area is also armored with molded polyurethane to guard against wear from crankarm or tire rub.

As is typical with Giro shoes, arch support is built into the insole, not the carbon plate itself. The intentionally flat plate shape supposedly allows for more of a “spillover” effect to accommodate a wider range of foot shapes and sizes. However, the Evofiber SL synthetic upper material is extremely resistant to stretch, so any riders with foot anomalies should definitely try these on first before buying.

The included SuperNatural insoles feature interchange arch inserts to fine-tune the fit. The upper layer features X-Static antimicrobial fibers to ward off odor.

Giro will offer the new Factor Techlace in three different colors. Retail price will be US$350 / €350 when they begin arriving in shops in October. UK and AU pricing is TBC.

The new Giro Factress Techlace is built on a women-specific last with a lower overall volume and a narrower heel. Color options will be limited to just this white and black layout. Retail price will be US$350 / €350 when it begins arriving in shops in October. UK and AU pricing is TBC.

The Giro Sentrie Techlace shares the overall closure design with the top-end Factor Techlace but with a more conventional upper construction and a Boa L6 dial that omits the flagship IP1’s micro-adjustable loosening function.

The second-tier Giro Sentrie Techlace and Raes Techlace shoes use more conventional welded and stitched uppers.

Like the Giro Factress Techlace model, the Raes Techlace shoe is built around a women-specific last. Three colors will be available. Retail price will be US$250 / €250 when they begin arriving in shops in October. UK and AU pricing is TBC.

The Giro Sentrie Techlace will be available in three different colors. Retail price will be US$250 / €250 when they begin arriving in shops in October. UK and AU pricing is TBC.

Silca’s tool roll, on the other hand, is certainly a more surprising application for Boa.

This new tool roll features an overall design that’s very similar to the company’s current model, including the trick “Y-Axis” strap that uniquely holds everything more tightly together, and sets Silca’s example apart from other tool rolls. It’s also slightly larger, and now fits inner tubes up to 700x45c in size. But whereas the current model uses a simple woven nylon strap and a ladder lock to secure it to the saddle rails, the new one uses a Boa cable system — the first time Boa has been used in such a way, at least to my knowledge.

“Boa allows a greater total range of fitment, better adjustability, and a more powerful attachment to ensure the bag remains tight to the seat rolls,” said Silca owner Josh Poertner, “and all with no loose strap to manage.”

Other features include a waxed canvas body (just as Silca uses on its other tool roll), computer quilted 3M reflective thread, and a red ripstop nylon liner for better visibility and wear resistance. Pricing and availability for the new tool roll is still to be confirmed.

“This one is really exciting for us,” said Poertner. “This is the first product in a line of bags and soft accessories.”

Silca’s new tool roll is based on its existing model, but with the addition of a Boa cable reel system to securely attach it to the saddle rails. To my knowledge, it’s the first time Boa has been used in such an application. Photo: Silca.

An open cable guide allows for easy mounting of Silca’s new Boa-equipped tool roll to any saddle that has conventional rails – and even possibly ones that do not. Photo: Silca.

The quilted stitching uses 3M reflective thread to help boost nighttime visibility – a neat touch that not only adds visual flair but safety as well. Photo: Silca.

I had a boa closure on a pair of Lake mtb shoes before my 6 month old pointer took a liking to them.
The closures were flawed, I thought, as I could not get specific pressures over the top of myfoot. I did like the convenience, though.
I think that two closures would have been better, but then a standard buckle + Velcro is simpler, less prone to mud fouling, cheaper, and less tasty to puppies.
Perhaps boa closures are best as a road shoe closure system only.

Andy B

Ive got dual boas on my mtb shoes.. they work great
I think the newer versions are more reliable too

Jessy Vee

Huge props to Boa’s awesome Customer Service, too! A dial on my shoe was messed up in a bad crash, and they sent me replacements in no time – no questions asked. Awesome product. Awesome ingenuity. They look like a brand that is doing everything right.

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